Freelance copywriter for Widnes, Liverpool, Manchester and beyond

Client Earth

The Campaign:

In conjunction with One Minute Briefs and The Drum, ClientEarth wanted to raise public awareness of the health effects of air pollution in the UK. An environmental law charity, they work to protect the environment through advocacy, litigation, and science.

Despite its image as a world-class city, London has the worst air quality in the UK and some of the most polluted streets in Europe. Legal limits designed to protect people’s health are not being met throughout London. Almost 10,000 Londoners die every year because of polluted air according to the latest medical research. Air pollution is classified as the single largest global environmental health risk by the World Health Organisation, causing heart attacks and strokes, exacerbating respiratory conditions and increasing the risk of hospitalisation and death. It is a known carcinogen and is linked to premature births, low birth weights and reduced lung capacity in children. There is also increasing evidence suggesting links to other health conditions such as diabetes, dementia, and autism.

The new Mayor of London is proposing an Ultra Low Emission Zone to help tackle the problem and is launching a series of consultations over the next 6 to 8 months. By raising awareness we want to build public support for bold action to tackle air pollution.

The Brief:
A campaign on air pollution – no2dirtyair. Client Earth wanted interesting and original ideas on how to raise awareness of air pollution. In particular, to reach beyond the usual suspects (e.g. those with existing environmental concerns) and in particular those most vulnerable to the impacts of air pollution (e.g. children and their parents, and older people), helping them to become aware of what causes London’s air pollution, its health effects and that it doesn’t have to be this way – in order to support bold policies to tackle air pollution.

Important notes
We want an empowering message. We don’t want to just highlight the negative effects of air pollution and how it harms people’s health – what is key to our message is that this issue can be improved if the government take urgent steps to improve air quality. What we want people to understand is that the more pressure we can put on politicians and governments to tackle pollution and the health and respiratory problems it causes, the more government are likely to act.

The original One Minute Briefs submission

One Minute Briefs entry:

The ad was selected due to its ‘hard hitting visual that captures the message perfectly‘.